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La RIVISTAAnno Scolastico 2018-19

LA SCUOLALa RIVISTA

2018-2019

From the Head of School

Admissions

Diversity at La Scuola

Math Curriculum

MYP Candidacy

Faculty Profiles

Strategic Goals

La Dolce Vita 2019

Ambassador Ensemble

New School Site

Reggio Emilia

Open to the World

La Scuola Families

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Cari Amici,As my 12th year at La Scuola comes to an end, I continue to marvel at how

far La Scuola has come. Thank you for supporting La Scuola on our journey from a small playgroup into a PreK-8 Reggio inspired, IB, Italian Immersion Independent school! Can you believe that we will graduate our first 8th grade class next year?

This past school year, we were recognized as one of only two Scuola Parificata (recognized by the Italian Government) in the US, completed the process to become an IB MYP (International Baccalaureate for the Middle Years) candidate school and we were able to secure a permanent site for the growth of our K-8 program!

Grazie to you, our annual fundraisers, the Annual Fund and La Dolce Vita gala, were once again successful, and allowed us to raise our tuition assistance budget allocation and to offer it to 33% of our families as we continue to strive be a more inclusive, equitable and diverse school.

At La Scuola, students are the protagonists of their own education. They are encouraged to be inquiry-driven independent thinkers, communicators and to find their own unique path in life. When children are open to the world there’s no limit to their ability to learn across subjects, cultures, and languages.

The unique educational experiences we wish to offer could not happen without our talented and committed teachers, dedicated leadership and administration team, our vibrant community of parents and our inspiring La Scuola students.

Please read ahead to hear more from them all, in their own unique voices.Nothing Without Joy! Niente Senza Gioia!Con Stima,

VALENTINA IMBENI, PH.D.

Head of School

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ADMISSIONSHOW DO YOU build a vibrant and diverse community? How do you create a warm and inclusive school culture that celebrates children who are at ease in a multilingual and multicultural environment? We start by being Open to the World.

La Scuola's admissions team, faculty and staff hold open houses, tours and educational events across three campuses: Preschool, Elementary and Middle School. We open our doors to interested families and let them experience how students benefit from an education that is highly engaging, child-centered and international.

One highlight this year is our growing partnership with the SMART (Schools, Mentoring, and Resources Team) Program. “SMART is a comprehensive eight-year program that provides low-income students in San Francisco access to an exceptional education and the skills needed to thrive in college and in life. A twice-weekly after-school program provides SMART students with the skills to succeed in academically rigorous schools and in life through tutoring, mentoring, and a curriculum designed to bolster them academically and social-emotionally.” The SMART Program has proven itself as a tremendously effective organization with a 100% high school graduation rate and exceptional college admissions. At La Scuola, our goal is to make our school

as accessible as possible, and to include as many student voices from our local and global community. Therefore, we’re passionate about our partnership with the SMART Program and we’re excited to welcome two SMART scholars to our middle school and to our community.

The next school year will mark an important milestone for La Scuola, as we’ll be graduating our first 8th grade class in June 2020. We know our future graduates possess a deep respect for humanity and the world in which they live. We believe they are prepared to thrive in a process-based, collaborative world. They are inquiry-driven, independent thinkers who communicate effectively and are comfortable finding their own way. We can’t wait to see what high schools our students will choose to continue their educational journeys. What we know is that they are equipped to contribute to any community they decide to join.

At La Scuola, we believe children are competent, creative, resilient and beautiful, and we put our hearts and minds towards creating an educational experience that prepares them to be empathetic world citizens, ready and able to shape a better future. Come experience La Scuola first hand by joining us for a tour this fall and winter!

DUNJA SOLARI

Director of Admissions

ADMISSIONS NEWS

ALL SCHOOL DIVERSITY STATISTICS 2019-2020

LANGUAGES: 34

GEOGRAPHIC ZIP CODES: 40

TUIT ION ASSISTANCE (ALL SCHOOL): 23%

TUITION ASSISTANCE (K-8): 33%

ETHNICITY (NON-WHITE): 36%

LGBTQ: 3%

AT LA SCUOLA, WE BELIEVE CHILDREN ARE COMPETENT, CREATIVE, RESILIENT AND BEAUTIFUL...

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W E ARE VERY PROUD of the progress we’ve made this year in

diversity, equity, and inclusion committee (DEI) thanks to the engagement of our committee members and the entire La Scuola community. In typical La Scuola fashion, we started the year doing our research. We embarked on the Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism (AIM) climate survey, a survey designed by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) to gauge the attitudes and impressions of the community with emphasis on school’s climate, inclusiveness and approach to multiculturalism. We had great participation across all constituents (students, board, faculty, staff and parents) providing statistically significant insight from the community. Overall the results were very encouraging with 36 responses in the “healthy” range and many of them exceeding the results of high performing schools. The highest rating of all was “school leaders are friendly and approachable,” clearly not surprising. Many of the positive results point to good morale, inclusivity, positive environment and caring teachers and staff. There were two areas of high priority concern, the diversity of the board and the school’s ability to work effectively with socio-

economic diversity. There were nine areas of priority concern primarily focused on diversity (enrollment, faculty and staff) with emphasis on race and ethnicity. Other areas of concern were ensuring that single parents feel included and supported in our community and not allowing a few vocal parents to change the school policy. We shared the results with the community to ensure full transparency and to guide our next steps.

We dug deeper and had multiple meetings with the community to get more qualitative insights, understand what they value about diversity, equity and inclusion and explore the results of the survey further. We synthesized the discussions and derived a set of goals focused on the following themes:

1. Improve equity and social justiceunderstanding and outcomes:professional development for facultyand staff and shared understandingof DEI, consistent integration of DEIinto the curriculum, and curation ofservice learning opportunities.

2. Improve inclusion: reach out tosingle parents to identify needs andpropose actions as well as pursueresources for community education.

3. Provide better transparency andcommunication of DEI activities:review DEI definition on website,integrate regular DEI updates to ourwebsite, Bollettino, parent coffees,Town Hall and Curriculum Nights.

We started acting on many of these initiatives and we already started seeing some of the results. Two SMART students selected La Scuola next year and told us how inclusive the environment felt when they toured the school. We are hoping that this is the first step to many more students as we establish a strong connection with SMART. Also we are excited to see our tuition assistance continue to increase, with 33% of our K-8 families receiving

tuition assistance. There is an increase in our ethnic diversity, with 36% of our families being non-white. We continue to see a broad reach across the city with our families coming from 40 zip codes. We need to improve our diversity with respect to African American (1%), Latino (8%), and Asian (7%) students, as well as our LGBTQ families (3%), and we will continue to focus on these areas.

Many years ago, La Scuola embarked on this journey of identifying and creating a shared understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion at La Scuola. As we transition to an action phase, we will continue to learn and evolve our thinking, seek feedback regularly, and adjust our actions accordingly. We realize the importance to call out equity specifically and as a result we changed the name of the committee from “Diversity and Inclusion” to “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” We are excited to go on this journey together as a community. Grazie mille for all your input and please keep it coming!

LAMA NACHMAN

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee Co-Chair,La Scuola Board Member

DAVID DONAHUE

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee Co-Chair,La Scuola Board Member

DIVERSITY AT LA SCUOLA

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION AT LA SCUOLA

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HERE AT LA SCUOLA, students in K-8 learn and practice math concepts and skills every day, and students think through a math lens throughout their International Baccalaureate PYP units of inquiry: Who we are, Where we are in place & time, How we express ourselves, How the work works, How we organize ourselves and Sharing the planet. Data handling, measurement, shape & space, pattern & function and number sense are PYP mathematics strands through which students view and make sense of the world, and our educators guide and encourage their inquiry. La Scuola selected Singapore Math to support this growth, and we are completing our first formal year of implementation. Singapore Math is a highly successful math program, ranking at top and/or among the top countries in world on international math tests since 1995.*

PROCESSIn Singapore Math, students are introduced to a concept; they practice the concept, and they immediately apply the concept through problem solving in class. Problem solving and thinking logically are at the heart of the Singapore Math curriculum. In her teacher training sessions and parent education evening at La Scuola this academic year, consultant Beth Curran introduced Singapore Math as “a conceptually-based program that really works in developing students’ Number sense and problem- solving skills.”

Jo Boaler, math professor extraordinaire at Stanford University and an early influence on La Scuola’s K-8 math program, states, “Number Sense is the most important aspect of all high level math.” She walks us through an example of mastery of addition, a number sense concept: At the start, addition knowledge takes up a large space in brain, but then it gets compressed over time. That knowledge is compressed and gets filed away, to recall quickly. We can only compress concepts, not methods.

MATH CURRICULUM

IB PYP Math Inquiry + Singapore Math curriculum = Right Fit

The power of mathematics for describing and analysing the world around us is such that it has become a highly effective tool for solving problems.

International Baccalaureate(IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP)

COMPLEMENTARY MATHEMATICS

WE ARE NOT TEACHING MATH, WE ARE TEACHING THINKING THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF MATH.

Dr. Yeap Ban Har, Singapore Ministr y of Education

IF YOU CAN PUT MATERIALS IN FRONT OF STUDENTS AND THEY CAN HANDLE THEM, THEN THEY WILL BE ABLE TO VISUALIZE THEM AND IT HELPS THEM TO MAKE SENSE OF THE ABSTRACT.

Beth Curran, Math Champions

DEFINITION: Complement, complementaryThe word "complement" is related to the word "complete," and comes from a Latin word "complere" meaning "fill entirely." "Plere" in Latin means fill, and "com" is an intensive prefix, meaning "do it all the way." "Complement" is "something that completes, makes up a whole, or brings to perfection." A complementary angle "completes" a right angle (90 degrees). Mathforum.org

REFERENCES

• Beth Curran, Math Champions: Teacher training & Parent Educationevening at La Scuola International School August 2018 & February 2019

• IBO.org, PYP Mathematics Scope & Sequence, 2018

• Jo Boaler, Stanford University & Youcubed.org: Educator event at St.Ignatius School, 2015

• OECD.org/pisa (Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development)

• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM 2000)

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PICTORIAL (VISUAL)At La Scuola, teachers consistently lead students through a Concrete - Pictorial - Abstract progression when introducing math concepts. Singapore Math fully develops the idea of the pictorial stage: teach students to visualize the mathematics, drawing pictures and building bar models. Beth Curran emphasizes that way pictorial representation is the essential connection between the concrete and abstract. When students miss out on a visual understanding, we lose half of our thinkers, shares Jo Boaler.

Grade 3 students organize place value discs—concrete materials—to explain and solve for multiplication and

fraction addition challenges.

LEARNERS ARE ABLE TO APPLY THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS AS WELL AS UTILIZE MATHEMATICAL SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE.

International Baccalaureate(IB) Primar y Years Programme

LOWER ELEMENTARY

UPPER ELEMENTARY

BIG IDEAS AND CONNECTIONSSimilar to IB Primary Years Programme and the Italian Ministry of Education—our defining curricula at La Scuola—Singapore Math also identifies the big ideas in mathematics. When students complete the elementary Singapore curriculum, Beth Curran shares, they will have strong number sense and can:• visualize the mathematics, communicate mathematically,• explain their thinking,• generalize,• make connections in math,• apply their knowledge to unfamiliar situations,• think through problems ,• understand the processes they are using,• choose the most reasonable or effective strategy to solve a problem.Furthermore, the Singapore Math sequence helps students to make

connections across concepts. For example, the concept of decimals is built on an in-depth understanding of fractions.

TIMEThis all takes time for concept and skills mastery, and Singapore Math has designed a coherent curriculum, focusing in depth of units, over breadth. Students have more time on fewer mathematics concepts—when a student can slow down, they are able to think carefully and deeply. Students are also learning to organize their thinking, developing their executive functioning.

Area, moving from pictorial to abstract.

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Student survey

class, collect,

organize and

represent data.

Grade 4 students

analyses and

reflects on real

world, global

data during

inquiry with

classmates.

MATH CURRICULUM

MASTERY An essential aspect of Singapore Math is teaching is mastery. Students practice until they have achieved mastery of a concept and then they apply it. The Singapore Math teaching model has three phases that students are constantly moving through.

UNDERSTANDING: working through concrete- pictorial-abstract progression, and practicing,

CONSOLIDATING: practicing for fluency, lots of games going on in the classroom, workbooks, homework. “They’ve abstracted it,” describes Beth.

TRANSFERRING: applying that math through problem solving.

All the while, teachers are assessing to determine where students are. The model is wonderfully complementary to IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) understanding of how children learn mathematics: Constructing, Learning, Transferring meaning into symbols and Applying with understanding.

At La Scuola, through our Reggio Emilia approach, teachers hold a high image of the child. They encourage student participation in class discussions, fostering openness and independent thinking. In mathematics, this might reveal itself in Number Talks, highly effective class discussions about a mathematical expression or concept. Listening to the diversity of students ideas, teachers collect one to six (or more) different ways to think about a math expression—and write/draw the ideas on the board. Number talks are a totally freeing approach to mathematics and create positive mathematical pathways , promoting mental math and flexible thinking.

In the Primary Years Programme, mathematics is viewed primarily as a vehicle to support inquiry, providing a global language through which we make sense of the world around us.

International Baccalaureate(IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP)

Similarly, Singapore Math focuses on metacognition—the idea that students can understand what’s going on in their head as they are working through a problem. Beth Curran shares, “Students understand what processes they are using to solve the problem, so when the math gets harder, they can apply that understanding to the harder situation.” La Scuola has designed a right fit with the IB Primary Years Programme Mathematics framework and Singapore Math Curriculum, complementary mathematics.

SALLY MEEHAN PETERSON

Lower School Director

CONSTRUCTING UNDERSTANDING, SOCIALLY

ALL STUDENTS DESERVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO UNDERSTAND THE POWER & BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

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LA SCUOLA entered an exciting new phase of growth this year with

the implementation of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) in our pioneer class of grade 6-7. The move from the Primary Years Programme (PYP) to the Middle Years Programme brings many teaching and learning changes that meet the developmental needs of young adolescent learners.

For students, the biggest change came in the organization of learning. PYP students engaged in transdisciplinary units of inquiry, researching topics from the perspective of multiple disciplines at once. In contrast, MYP students do research in eight different subject areas, with planned interdisciplinary inquiries per year.

Says grade six student Alessandra Salleo, “I like all the different classes we have. It’s more interesting to me this year because we are able to go deeper. In science, we are doing a lot more hands-on work, using a lot more scientific equipment, and aiming at a lot more precision. In social studies, we are looking more carefully at multiple sources to construct more careful arguments. We are making our arguments more believable.”

The new disciplinary focus in MYP has brought significant changes for teachers, too. The biggest change has probably been the implementation of the required assessment criteria. “It’s been clearer in terms of structure and organization,” says Italian as an Acquired Language teacher Melina Madrigal. “It’s always been clear what the key skills are for language acquisition, but the MYP organizes these really systematically.”

Design teacher Chiara Fornetti agrees, “At the middle school level, students need to have more structure and understand that there is a base in every subject, and then use these skills and concepts to do interdisciplinary inquiry. The structure gives the students the possibility to be more independent. It puts them at the center of the learning process. I can teach a concept, but then it’s the students’ job to deepen it through action.”

Implementation of the MYP is a multi-year process. As teachers and students, we are adapting to a new learning framework and deepening our understanding through continuous practice. Music maestro Carl Dean reports: “It’s making me think about things differently, and it’s pushing me to look at the bigger picture, in terms of sequence of skills and outcomes. It’s an opportunity to grow.”

In the year ahead, we will bring Physical Education and Health into the MYP framework, continue to develop new units of inquiry in all eight of the subject areas, and work on new interdisciplinary units of inquiry that will allow students to contribute to the development of the new Mission school campus.

The MYP element that parents have commented on most frequently is reporting on learning. “What I love most about the MYP report card is that more than just a report with letters and percentages; rather, I see it as a tool that identifies areas for improvement, tracks progress and growth from term to term and allows space for the teacher to provide meaningful, child-specific feedback that allows both the student and their parents to have a clear road map to move forward with. I can see that it is a thoughtful and time-consuming

product of a teacher’s reflection on their students’ work and it is well worth it,” says Middle School parent Claudia Volpi.

One thing that has not changed with the implementation of the Middle Years Programme, however, is our Reggio Emilia approach to learning—high expectations of students, a deep trust in student voice and autonomy, an openness to authentic discovery as we move through the inquiry cycle, and an abiding sense of the importance of the environment to learning.

On this last point—environment as third teacher—the middle school response to this Reggio Emilia principle is to embrace the neighborhood, community, and city as key elements for learning. From a climate strike on the streets of San Francisco to research in the public library, students have taken their learning out of the classroom and into real world contexts throughout the year. A signal advantage of this embrace of a more inclusive understanding of the learning environment is that with the closure of campus for the summer vacation, students’ independent inquiry can carry on, wherever their summer plans take them.

DOUGLAS LOWNEY Middle School Director & IB Programmes Coordinator

MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS

IMPLEMENTING THE MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAMME

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ALICE MERLI GRANDISSIMI ARANCIONI TEACHER

Born and raised among the fog in the province of Milan, fascinated by the world of education, I embarked

upon a university career that guided me first towards elementary education, and later, into preschool education. I distinctly remember the first time I thought of myself as a teacher. It was a day like any other, during my first few months teaching in a first-grade class. A child, who until that moment had only been able to read a few syllables, raised his head from his book and exclaimed: “Rosemary, teacher! Rosemary!” With a few tools and a lot of will and dedication, I was able to contribute to the growth of that child, to whom many elements of the world started appearing more decipherable, in part thanks to my help. For me, this is the simplicity of being a teacher: becoming a family outside of the family, that can support “small lives” and silently prepare them for their futures.

Fast forward a few years, I made the hardest decision of my life to leave my beloved Italy, my family, and my friends, to start an overseas adventure. I immediately took the opportunity even if this meant rebuilding my life, starting with a small checked suitcase. And then, on a Tuesday, I was at La Scuola. I heard familiar words, saw smiling faces, and experienced incredibly rich education environments. It was in this moment that I realized I had to stay.

The sensation of working in a unique place never leaves you at La Scuola: the strength of an enthusiastic group of colleagues, devoted and collaborative families, but more than anything, it is the curious children, full of stories to share, who made me appreciate this learning community and all of its many facets. That’s why I always start the school year with a research-oriented and adventurous spirit, day after day building a welcoming environment, both physically and emotionally, that is rich with opportunities for every child to discover and learn.

VALENTINA SANTACATERINA KINDERGARTEN VERDI TEACHER

Iarrived in San Francisco two years ago. I moved to the United States to follow my husband, Angelo, who had

found work in a small pasta restaurant in the Bay Area.

San Francisco had always been in our thoughts as a possible goal to realize our American dream and when this dream came true we were both very excited and happy to start a new chapter of our life.

In Italy, I was always in the world of education. After graduating from high school in childhood studies I decided to continue my studies in psychology with a special focus on the world of childhood and the psycho-social development of children. During my university years, I have always worked as a private tutor and as an assistant educator in pre-school and elementary schools.

After graduating, I started working in a preschool as an educator and later as a manager in a play area. When the possibility of moving to San Francisco occurred, I immediately started looking for a possible job in the educational world and La Scuola was my destination.

I still remember when I looked at the school's website with admiration and was immediately fascinated by this beautiful school. In addition to the possibility of being able to teach in my mother tongue, La Scuola immediately fascinated me with its Reggio Emilia approach, the role of the child as the main actor of his educational experience, and the importance for the environment were characteristics that made me love this school. Now I'm about to start in my third year as a kindergarten teacher, and I'm looking forward to continuing this wonderful adventure with my Kinderini!

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS

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IN THE FALL OF 2018, the Board and Administration

hit the ground running to begin work on the 2018-2023 Strategic Plan. The news is good, the work is plentiful, and as always, we together will continue to build a dream school for our students. To recap, the plan has 5 key pillars: Permanence, Nurture & Grow, Heart & Mind, Community and Thriveability.

SERRA FALK GOLDMAN Governance and Strategic Planning, La Scuola Board of Directors Chair

CLAUDIA VOLPI Strategic Planning Committee Co-Chair, Marketing,La Scuola Board Member

STRATEGIC GOALS

PERMANENCELa Scuola achieved its goal to find a permanent campus that can adequately meet the needs of our 21st century students while our community continues to grow. In November 2018, La Scuola signed a 60-year contract with the Archdiocese of San Francisco for the Mission neighborhood campus of a school formerly known as the St. Charles Borromeo School. The campus consists of three buildings, the first of which is being refurbished for occupancy in August 2019 by grade 5-8 students and faculty. We will continue to work with Reggio Emilia architecture expert Michele Zini from ZPZ partners in collaboration with local architects Pfau-Long, who have designed several schools in the Bay Area.

NURTURE + GROWLa Scuola continues to invest in our faculty by recruiting and retaining top educators and providing them with competitive salaries, benefits, and visas if needed, and professional development opportunities. We also allow our faculty to nurture their own interests and skills and have complex roles that support their need to grow as educators. Our teachers are researchers and life-long learners.

2018-2023LA SCUOLA'S STRATEGIC PLAN

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HEART + MINDLa Scuola students are Open to the World as a result of the subtle equilibrium of the creativity and innovation inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, the academic challenge of the International Baccalaureate programmes, and the cultural enrichment that comes from learning in a different language. Reflection on our programs is constant and recent accreditations such as the CAIS (California Association of Independent Schools), CIS (Council of International Schools), IB-Primary Years Programme, IB-Middle Years Programme (in progress), WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) and La Scuola’s recognition as a Scuola Paritaria (a school that is recognized by the Italian government as an Italian school abroad) affords our team the opportunity to self-evaluate and to incorporate local and international best practices continuously.

COMMUNITYAt La Scuola our students, faculty, and families live by Niente Senza Gioia (Nothing without Joy). We spent time this year listening to our various constituents in order to define multiculturalism and diversity, equity and inclusion means for us.

We dug deeper and had multiple meetings with the community to get more qualitative insights, understand what they value about diversity, equity and inclusion and to explore the results of the survey further. We synthesized the discussions and derived a set of overarching goals that will improve our understanding and outcomes related to social justice; increase diversity in the community at large; improve inclusion and that will provide more transparency and communication regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion discussions.

THRIVEABIL ITYWith La Scuola’s continued growth, the board and administration are focused on long-term success. This school year La Scuola created an Advancement Office, which will be led by Shannon Cleary. Graham Pelton assisted La Scuola with a feasibility study and preparing for a campaign. Mission Minded helped La Scuola to define its brand and to articulate its value proposition. Several faculty, administration, trustees, and parents have worked all year to streamline the school's messaging and work is underway to update the website, prospective material and internal communications. We expect to unveil this work in Fall 2019. We have also started to offer professional development for the many educators interested in our unique environment and combination of IB and Reggio Emilia approaches. We are looking for even more creative ideas in the future!

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LA SCUOLA FUNDRAISING

LA DOLCE VITA2019

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LA SCUOLA’S SPRING GALA and fundraiser, La Dolce Vita, was another hit! Thanks to the generosity of our parents, friends, and community members we raised a net of nearly $300,000. Thanks to your generosity, these funds, along with the Annual Fund which raised close to $530,000 and $20,000 in other gifts brought La Scuola to over $840,000 in philanthropic gifts! This year, guests descended on a new silent auction space and Taste of Italy experience under the Dome at the Westfield San Francisco Centre while listening to musical duo featuring Kindergarten parent Matt Small. Guests also got to savor small bites from local Italian food purveyors: Ramini Mozzarella, Montesacro, and 54 Mint while Wine Meats Cheese provided the bar alongside Lo-Fi Apertifs.

La Scuola’s own student Ambassador Ensemble opened the evening’s presentation and we were honored to have students from our middle school on stage as our MCs.

This year’s event would not have been possible without the time and commitment of our La Dolce Vita Committee: Kate Delimitros, Sara Brown, Andrea Palomera, Lisa Silveria, Gabi Iyer, Cristina Massa, and Margaux Axelrod as well as all of the parent volunteers who helped make our fundraiser a success.

GRAZIE MILLE PER TUTTO QUELLO CHE FATE!

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MUSIC PROGRAM AT LA SCUOLA INTERNAZIONALE

EARLY IN 2018, eight children and I formed The Ambassador Ensemble, with the purpose of performing as part of La Scuola’s annual fundraiser, La Dolce Vita. After our performance of La Palumella, a love song from Naples, it was clear that we had put something special together. We began to expand our repertoire, but our momentum really began to take off during this current school year.

Our 2018-2019 season began with a performance at the Italian Heritage Parade. Someone took a video of our performance on a stage near Saints Peter and Paul Church in North Beach that was passed around the Bay Area mandolin and Italian music community,

and led to our invitation to future events!

Part of our Ambassador Ensemble’s evolving mission is to play at La Scuola in-house events, such as our fall donor event at the site of our new middle school campus. This special event was the first visit to our new campus for many of our students and was their way of thanking some of those who made the new campus possible.

Josephine Pellegrini, Director of the Aurora Mandolin Orchestra, invited us to perform at the Classical Mandolin Society of America’s annual convention in Santa Rosa on November 17, 2018. Many of our dedicated students and parents made the drive up to Santa Rosa on a Saturday night, to open the

Saturday evening concert in the lobby of the Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa. The next CMSA convention is in Bloomington, Indiana.

In January of 2019, the Consul General of Italy, Lorenzo Ortona, invited the Ambassador Ensemble to perform as part of a knighting ceremony for chef, author, and activist Alice Waters. This was a favorite event of ours to celebrate one of our role models and we hope to organize a trip to Chez Panisse to see Ms. Waters again.

About one year after our ensemble formed, we auditioned and accepted two new members, bringing our ensemble to ten.

AMBASSADOR ENSEMBLE2018-2019 SCHOOL YEAR

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When member of the Italian Senate of the Republic, Francesca Alderisi, came to visit La Scuola, Head of School Valentina Imbeni requested we give a private concert. Senatrice Alderisi was generous with her time, asking us about our program and in what ways she could help the Ambassador Ensemble and our music program grow, including researching how we can get authentic instruments from Italy. Later that same month, we performed Raffaele Calace’s Tarantella Napoletana, Op. 18 at our second La Dolce Vita gala.

In April, we performed as part of the San Francisco Festival of the Mandolins, a yearly celebration of mandolin music, its history and its future. Our children, clearly representing the history of the art, inspired the room to a standing ovation with their performance.

Between the writing and publication of this article, we will have performed at two more events associated with the Festa della Repubblica. The first performance on Sunday June 2nd in the Spreckles Temple of Music (frequently called The Bandshell), and the second on Monday, June 3rd at the Saint Francis Yacht Club, with musicians from the European Capital of Culture for 2019, Matera, Italy.

Thank you all for your support of the La Scuola music program and of Ambassador Ensemble.

Maestro CARLO DEAN Direttore D’orchestra

"... IT WAS CLEAR THAT WE PUT SOMETHING

SPECIAL TOGETHER..."

Guest conductor

Sheila Ortona

conducts

Inno di Mameli.

During the

La Scuola donor

event, acclaimed

cellist, Evan Kahn,

gives an extra oomph

to our low end.

While waiting

for showtime,

mandolinist Luca

shows mandocellist

Matteo a tune on

the mandolin.

Warming up and

chatting in the cantina

before the performance

at the San Francisco

Festival of the

Mandolins.

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After the knighting ceremony, Ms. Alice Waters, fellow knight Ms. Valentina Imbeni, Consul General Ortona, Ms. Sheila Ortona,

and Ambassador Armando Varricchio pose with Maestro Carlo Dean and the Ambassador Ensemble.

Our group of now ten musicians posing with Senatrice Alderisi and Head of School, Ms. Imbeni.

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MUSIC PROGRAM AT LA SCUOLA INTERNAZIONALE

Moving the crowd and their Maestro during our 20 minute performance.

Immediately before showtime at LDV we pose for a new group photo.

MUSICIANS MADELEINE, mandolin (Concertmaster)

LUCA, mandolin (Assistant Concertmaster)ALESSANDRA, mandola

KEENAN, mandolaOLIVIA, guitar

ISABELLA, guitarFELIPE, guitar

MATTEO, guitarLEO, bass guitar

CHIARA, bass guitar

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WHAT'S NEW?

La ScuolaNEW SCHOOL SITE

PERMANENCE. A dream of La Scuola since the beginning. To build a place that furthers the magic of our community, spaces and programs. The vision of having our own Reggio Emilia-inspired K-8 campus has become a reality, and we now have the opportunity to connect La Scuola with our new multicultural Mission community and neighborhood.

We have signed a 60-year lease with the San Francisco Archdiocese, that comprises three buildings that are part of its St. Charles Borromeo properties at South Van Ness and 18th Street: 3250 18th Street, 3270 18th Street and 741 South Van Ness. Our plans are to completely renovate two existing historical buildings, St. Charles School and San Carlos Hall, as well as to erect a new building around the shared outdoor environment with St. Charles. These three buildings will together make up our future K-8 home!

As with many development projects of this magnitude, construction will be phased—and we have already begun! This August, our 5th- through 8th-graders will attend school at our interim Mission Campus, a fitting move for the 2019-20 school year as we graduate our inaugural class of soon-to-be 8th- graders. Our interim scope of work includes seismic and safety upgrades, refreshed atelier and classroom spaces, new kitchenette and improved facilities, re-imagined greenspace, indoor and outdoor beautification, and beyond.

Inspirational renderings of entry ramp at ground floor level and spaces for early drop off and informal study.

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And while the road to finding our new home has been long, the journey is really just beginning—and, as always, the journey is the exciting part! We have engaged Pfau Long Architecture, local Bay Area experts in school architecture and the restoration of historical buildings, and ZPZ Partners/Michele Zini, our longtime Italian architects and leaders in the Reggio Emilia approach, to help us create our permanent site. Our team speaks daily and meets weekly with the Board Facilities Committee as we shape the future of our new home.

In true La Scuola form, we let big dreams guide us on our journey. This fall, we held multiple visioning sessions with our parents, students, faculty and staff to help us imagine the most effective, engaging and beautiful learning environments possible. We, of course, work hand-in-hand with our architects and many consultants to marry our visions with considerations of cost, feasibility, and, most especially, goals for learning at La Scuola.

Many of our community members have toured the new site as-is, and we look forward to the unveiling of our interim middle school campus this fall. We are no stranger to multiple campuses, and adding a third site affords our school and our students more experiences, more interactions and more opportunities. We are so fortunate to now be part of the vibrant Mission community, which has welcomed La Scuola as we have forged relationships with our neighbors through community meetings and events such as the Mission’s annual Cinco de Mayo Festival. As we embrace those around us, they embrace us too; a new home, in a new neighborhood, as we open ourselves to the world.

ROBIN BONASO Director of HR and Operations

Conceptual drawings of buildings of new La Scuola school site.

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REGGIO/IB WORKSHOP ON MAY 9TH AND 10TH La Scuola had the honor of hosting the Visiting Educators Workshop: Reggio Inspiration Within the Primary Years Programme (PYP) Framework, presented by Educational Consultant, Anne van Dam.

Anne van Dam is an international educator who has worked in schools in the Netherlands, China, Singapore, and Switzerland in a variety of roles; as a teacher, PYP coordinator, assistant principal and school director. As an independent consultant she has travelled the globe to work with schools, facilitate workshops, and present at conferences. Anne is experienced with the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme.

Attendees from all over the world joined us for a two-day workshop to learn about a Reggio Emilia-inspired pedagogy within the Primary Years Programme framework. Our visitors had the opportunity to visit and work at both our preschool campus, and at our Fell Campus. These couple of days were packed with thoughtful discussion about PYP and the educational approach of Reggio Emilia and how they intersect and complement each other. Before their departure, they also had the opportunity to visit the La Scuola Exhibit, INSIEME, at Museo Italo Americano and to experience some hands-on activities.

REGGIO EMILIA

Professional development is an opportunity for educators to continue to improve their knowledge and skills so they can help students achieve. When educators learn, students learn more. Anyone concerned about their students’ futures will want to support a cycle of continuous professional growth for educators. Everyone has a role in ensuring that educators can take part in effective professional development. Parents and citizens must demand and support intensive, high-quality professional development that result in better teaching, improved school leadership, and higher student performance.

FEDERICA LENTINI Early Childhood Director

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EDITORIAIN ANTICIPATION of La Scuola’s first Reggio/IB Workshop, a team of preschool faculty decided to publish our first book, or editoria, on documentation to share with our fellow educators around the globe. The focus of the publication was on documentation and its critical role in promoting the construction of respectful learning. As a tool for educators, documentation helps construct positive experiences for children. It also provides proof and relevant communication for adults.

In observing and communicating what happens in their environment, we as a school community are able to see the surprising discoveries in our students’ daily lives as well as the extraordinary events that take place in the classroom. The following is a reflection of the role documentation plays at La Scuola as it was collected for our book. We hope that you enjoy reading about these moments that have been captured this year!

Documentation: Stories of a LookAutori: ALICE MERLI, ELISA BENASSI, MEGAN ANZUINI, NORA BUXAREU, SERENA MORELLI Direttrice: FEDERICA LENTINI

What is Documentation?“Documentation, as we have developed in Reggio, does not mean to collect documents after the conclusion of experiences with children but during the

course of these experiences. For us, documentation is part of the daily life in the schools. It is one

of the ways in which we create and maintain the relationships and the experiences among our colleagues and the children.

We think of documentation as an act of caring, an act of love and interaction.

We believe that both the teacher and the children are learners.In the process of learning through documentation, we become aware

of what learning is and its value; we assess it. Therefore, we believe that assessment is also an integral part of the learning and teaching process. We believe that the relationship between documentation and assessment is fundamental to our experience”

The Four Elements of Documentation

What is happening? Description and pedagogical intent

What do we hear? Conversations and quotes

What do we see? Meaningful moments

New understandings: Ideas and creationsDocumentation is interpreted and used

for its value as a tool for recalling; that is, a possibility for reflection.

The educational path becomes concretely visible through in-depth documentation of the data related to the activities, making use of verbal, graphic and documentary instruments as well as audiovisual technologies.

In the fragments of Documentation (images, words, signs and drawings) there is the past, that which took place, but there is also the future (or rather what else can happen if…)

WORD ANALYSIS

Avete mai sentito la parola ‘confine’?

(Have you ever heard the word ‘border’?)

It means to not paint out of the lines - Mikio

Fine (from con-fine) means last - Roman

Where the Hawaii stops - Joseph

It might be the starting line - Roman

No, the finish line - Paxton

It’s both! - Mikio

IDEAS THAT INSPIRE THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS

Let’s make a salad of flowers for the bees, then we will know

which one is their favorite – Ryan

ASSOCIATIONS THAT BROADEN UNDERSTANDING

Also the mondo (world) has a border, it’s where it ends - James

Mountains have a border, from the bottom to the top - Giulia

The woods ha un confine (have a border): the start has some animals,

the middle has many animals and the end not so much too - Roman

Gli squali (sharks) have a border, it starts from the nose and goes to the tail - Mikio

When you start with your food and when you are done - Eli

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What is happening? Description and pedagogical intent

A short paragraph helps to document and assess, to explain and clarify. To highlight clue words, to trace the path of the learning journey and to keep memory. To better understand what we do and teach, to consolidate concepts, to give details and to deepen ideas.

What do we hear? Conversations and quotes

VERBS, ADJECTIVES AND NOUNS THAT

GIVE MEANING

What is a family?

It’s a group - Clara

It’s the people who keep you safe - Paxton

They protect you in fires - Novella

MADE UP WORDS TO COMMUNICATE IN A NEW WAY

Trist-ità

(combination of the Italian words sadness and

happiness, much like sappiness)

Questo è tristità. It is happy and then it sadden up there

- JosephFRAMEHow old were the kids?

In which environment were they?

Was it only one kid, a pair of kids, a small group or a big group?

Was it a spontaneous activity/game or a structured one?

Were the children using materials they were familiar with

or was it the first time?

Was it a stand alone activity or a phase of an ongoing project?

REFLECTIONWhat did I see?

How did the children interact with the material, with the space

and between them?

What kind of reasoning did the children do?

What did they discover?

What kind of connections did the children make?

What kind of learning happened?

ACTIONWhat was the task?

What were the materials offered?

What kind of language did

the children use?

What skills did the children work on?

Which was the adult’s role?

GESTURES THAT SPEAK, SOUNDS THAT EXPLAIN

Love is here (pointing at his chest) - Luka

Qualche volta mia cugina prende i gatti e li mette in un posto

che a loro piace e prrrrr - Quinn

Sometimes my cousin takes the cats to put them in a place they

like and prrrrrr - Quinn

EXPRESSING INTENTIONS THROUGH PUNCTUATION

I’m making a balena (whale). Let’s do

some weird eyelashes ! – Neva

The leaves of the trees are viola

(purple)...

so I need carta viola (purple paper) -

Francesca

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What do we see?Meaningful moments

DRAWINGS

Description of events and experiences

Representations of the world

Visible thoughts

Stories

New UnderstandingIdeas and creationsHow have we answered the following questions: Checklist

WHAT EMERGED?A new understanding, a decision, a skill, a tangible product?

HOW DID IT EMERGE?What was the process?

Group/individual, time, environment, materials, languages…

WHAT'S NEXT?How can these new understandings inform our future teaching?

PHOTOGRAPHS

Which is the focus?

What story do we want to tell?

MIXED MEDIA

Which are the elements that can help:

Synthesize, add value and meaning, involve others in the process?

A skill

Jaiya by Zachary

Zachary by Jaiya

A concept through body language

A relationship

A process

An emotion

A discovery

A point of view

REGGIO EMILIA

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LA SCUOLA NEWS

OVER THE PAST YEAR, La Scuola has been collaborating with Mission Minded, a branding firm that works exclusively with nonprofit organizations,

to dial in on our messaging and who we are as a Brand, meaning how the world sees us and how we see ourselves.

While La Scuola is already strong in its school curriculum, culture, core values and mission, we embarked on this journey to be sure we were being as effective as we could be in communicating our points of differentiation. We also wanted to ensure we are reaching our various communities in the right way, especially as we continue to grow into our new campus in the Mission!

In our time working together with the Mission Minded team, we have created several pieces that will be a part of our Marketing and Communications Toolbox. One is a Brand Book which is an internal communications document around who we say we are as a Brand. We also discovered our Brand Promise, which is at the heart of what’s most important about La Scuola. The Brand Promise we created is: ‘Open to the World.’

In addition we have created Key Messages, which are more outward facing statements and messages we can incorporate into our website and communications materials—and a newly designed Admissions Viewbook to assist us in sharing the story and experience of La Scuola with future families. While our logo and mission are unchanged, we have added the Brand Promise “Open to the World’ to our messaging so you will see it popping up. You will also begin to see changes this summer in the website content where we will further implement our findings and wonderful takeaways from our work with the Mission Minded Team.

PAMELA FELLOWS Marketing and Communications Manager

La Scuola's new brand promise, "Open to the World", a result of year-long work with distiguished branding firm Mission Minded.

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FAMILY HIGHLIGHTS

DERK HENDRIKSEN and REBECCA MESSINA with LUCA (Grade 3) and ZARA (Grade 5)

MY HUSBAND DERK AND I met when we were living in Paris, France in 2002. As he is a Dutch native, and I am Italian-American, one of the many things that united us, was a love for Italy. Ultimately getting married in 2006 in Sicily, we then found ourselves moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 2006.

As a multi-cultural home, we agreed at the onset of our having children that we would always pursue an international school with an International Baccalaureate Programme(IB)-based curriculum for our children. We began this journey in 2012, with both of the kids in an IB school in the Spanish immersion track in Atlanta. We then moved to Chicago in 2016, where we continued with the IB curriculum and the Spanish track. We saw firsthand how smooth of a transition the children had given the familiarity of the curriculum and, critically, the mindset of the school.

When we were presented with the opportunity to move to San Francisco in 2018, we knew our only choice was IB. Haunted by moving the children to a third school in their short tenure, we set our sights on La Scuola very early on. But this time, things were even more complex. While the kids spoke some Italian, they had no formal training and it would be their fourth language (they speak English, Dutch and Spanish) and we were not able to time the move to coincide with the beginning of the 2018-19 school year.

But, La Scuola made it easy. They quickly connected us with amazing families to talk to, assured us that the language acquisition would come easier than we thought,

that they could successfully integrate two kids, at a random week during the school year and promised, at least to me (the one most worried!) that the kids would absolutely survive a third move! On the random day of November 5, 2018, the kids started at La Scuola. My heart broke when they had to enter an already formed classroom, speaking a language they did not yet grasp, but they came home that night with smiles on their faces.

Now, here we are, writing this 7 months later, and we can say they have more than survived—they have thrived.

The kids come home happy, every day. The teachers are phenomenal, the parents a true community. We are so grateful for the welcome we have received, and honored to be a part of this tremendous community here in San Francisco.

LA SCUOLA FAMILIES

"THE KIDS COME HOME HAPPY, EVERY DAY."

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Left to right: Sophia (college student), Rebecca (college student), Analucia (college student) Sergio Perez (parent), Gloria (10th grader), Maria Romero Perez (parent), Samuel (college student), Andrea (college student),Felipe (7th grader)

SERGIO and MARIA PEREZ with FELIPE (7th Grade) and his siblings

OUR VIBRANT, CARING, loud, and beautiful family is a very big one as seen from the picture provided. Lots of people have called me a supermom for having 10 pregnancies and having 7 children. Whether we are going out to eat as a family, playing family game nights, or even just watching Netflix movies, we all just love and watch out for each other. At the end of the day, anyone can be a supermom or -dad if they just really are able to commit to being able to listen and learn from their children on how to be a parent. This is all part of the process of being parents, which almost every one of us has gone through. We are a family that enjoys going out together, while enjoying traveling, cooking, Nicaraguan cuisine, and being so grateful for each other.

Our family comes straight from a very rich and deep culture. As immigrants coming from Nicaragua at really young ages, we wanted our children to have the best of everything and wanted to make sure they had the best education and continue to grow and have what they thought was the best for themselves. Each of our children has a unique personality and each is different in his/her own loving way. I think that is something that La Scuola has encompassed in its curriculum—in the way that it is able to nurture every student. Students at La Scuola are able to show their personal best through the way that each

individual child learns. La Scuola is a very nurturing and healthy environment full of deep learning and thinkers. Every student at La Scuola inspires not only the teachers, but the families as well, to also be brave learners, thinkers, inquirers in our everyday lives.

Applying to La Scuola honestly felt like no hassle. This was because of all the amazing administration keeping the connection between applicants and the school very strong. The resources that were given to us were very helpful, and it was amazing to see our Director of Admissions sit with not only me, but Felipe as well, talking through the steps of applying and explaining each form or document. This is what really caught my eye while applying here two years ago. The amount of warm welcomes and “Ciao”s were amazing to see. The day we visited La Scuola, it was as if the school and our family had known each other forever! At La Scuola, I am happy to say that we commit to the school motto, “Niente senza gioia!” Once we are able to see it on our big school banner in front of our school, we see that taking that step through those wooden doors that this, is a true testimony of La Scuola!

We believe in being very diverse and international, since we come from such a diverse and unique background. We thought the transition to La Scuola would be tough going from public to private school, but La Scuola truly made it a smooth transition. Also, the fact that our child was going to become trilingual was amazing. The Italian for Felipe was very easy because of his fluency in Spanish. He felt very comfortable beginning La Scuola in 6th grade. We recently traveled to Italy for the first time last year, and I was very happy and overjoyed with emotion to see him have a full on conversation with our hotel’s concierge! I asked him “When did you learn all of this?! You’ve only been at this school for 6 months?!” He responded with “Don’t ask me! Ask my teachers!” He says he wouldn’t have been able to make friends with Italian locals and still be in contact with them today if it weren’t for all the teachers at La Scuola that speak to him in Italian every day. But language immersion is just one little big part that makes La Scuola special!

Felipe is now in 7th grade, and he justs loves La Scuola. He volunteers on his own to come with me to help promote this school because it is his way of giving back to what has been given to us. He can now have an almost full conversation in Italian in his second year here, and can recite the first 15 numbers of PI! Since the day he shadowed this school until his last day when he leaves La Scuola with a middle school certificate in his hand with

LA SCUOLA FAMILIES

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FAMILY HIGHLIGHTS

a sunflower in the other, he, along with us, will be sad but proud to see him leave La Scuola. But we know that when he eventually is part of the first graduating class of La Scuola, this will all be in thanks to the school staff team and community. We hope that even though next year will be our family’s last year here, that other families stick with and continue to value La Scuola as a place we can all call home!

GABI and KAL IYER with OLIVIA (Grandissimi Azzurri)

WE ARE A MULTICULTURAL FAMILY born outside the United States. Kal was born and brought up in India and Gabi in Brazil with Spanish roots. Our daughter, Olivia, is 4 years old and has attended La Scuola for the past 10 months. As an international family, Olivia grew up multilingual and is fluent in English and Portuguese.

As a 3 year old, Olivia attended another preschool for a year. While we were grateful to the preschool teachers for the progress she made, we were concerned that she was not making progress interacting with other kids in the school and the neighborhood. She was very possessive of her belongings and was unwilling to mingle with similar aged neighbor’s kids.

After evaluating a few options we were drawn to La Scuola due to the Reggio Emilia approach with an emphasis on experiential learning and group activities. In the past year we have seen significant changes in Olivia’s behavior and social skills. She is more inclusive than in the past, happy to share her toys and welcome her friends for sleepovers and playdates.

Getting her to school is a breeze because she looks forward to the “calendario” each morning. One of her favorite activities in the school is in the garden; her favorite time is the lunch hour with the nutritious and delicious food that is cooked everyday from scratch, which is an opportunity for her to experiment new flavors as part of her discovery process.

In the past year she has conversationally adept in Italian. She knows all the teachers in the Dogpatch Campus and they also know her. She loves the Grandissimi Azzurri teachers Elisa, Silvia and Matthew.

As a family, we love traveling and exploring new places and cultures. We go to Brazil often to be with Olivia’s grandparents and cousins. Olivia’s stomping grounds so far are Disneyland and Hawaii.

We consider ourselves lucky to be part of the La Scuola community and the support group that comes with it. We look forward to seeing Olivia progress through and grow with La Scuola.

"WE CONSIDER OURSELVES LUCKY TO BE PART OF THE LA SCUOLA COMMUNITY AND THE SUPPORT THAT COMES WITH IT."

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San Francisco's first IB Reggio Italian Language Immersion School